Kyle Onstott (January 12, 1887 in Du Quoin, Illinois – June 3, 1966)[1]
was an American novelist, known for his best-selling novel Mandingo
(1957), which deals with slavery on an Alabama plantation with the fictional
name of Falconhurst in the 1830s. The book was made into a 1961 play[2]
and film of the same name, which was released in 1975.[3]

Onstott was originally a dog breeder and judge in regional dog shows,
living in California with his widowed mother in the early 1900s. Onstott’s partner was
Edgar Miller (1899-1930). Having
collaborated with his adopted son on a book about dog breeding, he decided to
write a book that would make him rich. "Utilizing his [adopted] son's
anthropology research on West Africa, he handwrote Mandingo and his son served as editor.
Denlinger's, a small Virginia publisher, released it and it became a national
sensation."[4]
A sequel and a series of other novels followed, mostly written with
Lance Horner.

Outside the usual setting of their work was the 1966 novel Child of the
Sun, recounting the scandalous reign of the homosexual Roman emperor
Elagabalus.